Amiga 500
Encyclopedia
The Amiga 500 - also known as the A500 (or its code name 'Rock Lobster') - was the first “low-end” Commodore
Amiga
16
/32-bit
multimedia
home/personal computer
. It was announced at the winter Consumer Electronics Show
in January 1987 - at the same time as the high-end Amiga 2000
- and competed directly against the Atari 520ST
. Before Amiga 500 was shipped, Commodore suggested that the list price of the Amiga 500 was 595.95 USD
without a monitor. At delivery in 1987, Commodore announced that the Amiga 500 would carry a 699 USD list price.
The Amiga 500 represented a return to Commodore's roots by being sold in the same mass retail outlets as the Commodore 64
- to which it was a spiritual successor - as opposed to the computer-store-only Amiga 1000
.
The original Amiga 500 proved to be Commodore’s best-selling Amiga model, enjoying particular success in Europe. Although popular with hobbyists, arguably its most widespread use was as a gaming machine, where its advanced graphics and sound for the time were of significant benefit.
to 399 GBP and was bundled with the Batman Pack in the United Kingdom. This price drop helped Commodore to sell more than 1 million Amiga 500s in 1989.
In late 1991, an enhanced model known as the Amiga 500+
replaced the standard Amiga 500 in some markets, it was bundled with the Cartoon Classics pack in the United Kingdom at 399 GBP.
The Amiga 500 series was discontinued in mid-1992 replaced by the similarly specified and priced Amiga 600
, although this new machine had originally been intended as a much cheaper budget model, which would have been the A300. In late 1992, Commodore released the “next-generation” Amiga 1200
, a machine closer in concept to the original Amiga 500, but featuring significant technical improvements. Despite this, neither the A1200 nor the A600 replicated the commercial success of its predecessor as, by this time, the market was definitively shifting from the home computer
platforms of the past to commodity Wintel
PCs
and the new "low-cost" Macintosh Classic
, LC
and IIsi models.
microprocessor running at (NTSC
) or (PAL
). The CPU is 32-bit internally, but uses a 16-bit data bus and 24-bit address bus, providing a maximum of 16 MB
of address space
. The Amiga 500 uses the same OCS
chipset as the Amiga 1000, so graphics can be displayed in multiple resolutions and color depths, even on the same screen. Resolutions vary from 320x200 (up to 32 colors) to 640x200 (up to 16 colors) for NTSC (704x484 overscan) and 320x256 to 640x256 for PAL (704x576 overscan.) The system uses planar graphics, with up to five bitplanes (four in hires) allowing 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 color screens, from a palette of 4096 colors. Two special graphics modes are also available: Extra HalfBrite, which uses a 6th bitplane as a mask to half the brightness of any color, and which allows all the 4096 colors to be used on screen at simultaneously. However only one of the red, green, blue base colours could be changed in the adjacent pixel in this mode. Later revisions of the chipset are PAL
/NTSC
switchable in software. The sound chip produces four hardware mixed channels of 8-bit PCM at a sampling frequency of up to . The hardware channels have independent volume levels and sampling rates and are output with two channels mixed to the left and two to the right audio output. Each channel can also be designated another channel where it can modulate both volume and frequency using its own output. The stock system comes with AmigaOS
version 1.2 or 1.3 and of Chip RAM
, one built in double-density floppy disk drive that is completely programmable and can read IBM PC
disks, standard Amiga disks, and up to using custom formatting drivers like Klaus Deppich’s diskspare.device. The Amiga 500 houses the keyboard and floppy drive in one shell, unlike the Amiga 1000
.
Despite the lack of Amiga 2000-compatible internal expansion slots, there are many ports and expansion options. There are two Atari 2600
DE9M
sockets for joystick
s or mice
, stereo audio (RCA connector
s 1 V p-p). There is a floppy drive port for daisy-chaining up to 3 extra floppy disk drives via an DB23F connector. The then-standard RS-232
serial port (DB25M) and Centronics
parallel port
(DB25F) are also included. The power supply is .
The system displays video in analog RGB
PAL
and NTSC
using a proprietary DB23M video connector and outputs video at (incompatible with most VGA monitors) HSync
for standard video modes while a Multisync monitor
is required for some higher resolutions. This connection can also be genlock
ed to an external video signal. The system was bundled with an RF adapter
to provide output on television
s with a coaxial input, while composite video
is available via an RCA connector
. There is also a Zorro II
bus expansion on the left side (behind a plastic cover). Peripherals such as a hard drive can be added via the expansion slot and are configured automatically by the Amiga's AutoConfig
standard, so that multiple devices do not conflict with each other. Up to of “fast" RAM can be added using the side expansion slot.
The Amiga 500 has a "trapdoor" slot on the underside for an upgrade of of RAM. The extra RAM is classified as "fast" RAM, but is sometimes referred to as "slow" RAM since due to the design of the expansion bus it is actually on the chipset bus. Such upgrades usually include a battery-backed real-time clock
. All versions of the A500 can have the additional RAM configured as Chip RAM by a simple hardware modification, which involves fitting a later model (8372A) Agnus chip. Likewise, all versions of the A500 can be upgraded to Chip RAM by fitting the chip and adding additional memory.
The Amiga 500 also sports an unusual feature for a budget machine, socketed chips, which allow easy replacement of defective chips. The CPU can be directly upgraded to a 68010
or to a 68020
, 68030
, or 68040
via the side expansion slot. In fact, all the custom chips can be upgraded to the Amiga Enhanced Chip Set (ECS) versions.
The case is made from ABS
plastics which may become brown with time. This can be reversed by using the public domain chemical mix "Retr0bright
".
Whenever the computer is powered on a self diagnostic test is run that will show any failure with a specific colour where
means no chip RAM found or is damaged,
means bad kickstart
-ROM
,
means mostly a bad CPU
(no trap routine) or a bad Zorro expansion card
.
means custom chip problem (Denise Paula Agnus),
means CIA
problem,
means if stops at Grey that the CIA can be defective,
Black/stripes means ROM or CIA problem,
Black (no video) means really basic problem.
The keyboard LED
uses blink codes where
One blink means the keyboard ROM has a checksum error,
Two blinks means RAM failure,
Three blinks means watchdog timer failure.
Using caps lock
key and getting a response means CIA and the CPU works.
Max 6 bpp
. The Amiga could show multiple resolution modes at the same time, splitting the screen vertically. An additional mode called Hold-And-Modify
(HAM) makes it possible to utilize over a wide span. This works by letting each pixel position use the previous RGB value and modify one of the red, green or blue values to a new 4-bit value. This will cause some negligible colour artifacts however.
Commodore International
Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore Business Machines , the U.S.-based home computer manufacturer and electronics manufacturer headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which also housed Commodore's corporate parent company, Commodore International Limited...
Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
16
16-bit
-16-bit architecture:The HP BPC, introduced in 1975, was the world's first 16-bit microprocessor. Prominent 16-bit processors include the PDP-11, Intel 8086, Intel 80286 and the WDC 65C816. The Intel 8088 was program-compatible with the Intel 8086, and was 16-bit in that its registers were 16...
/32-bit
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
home/personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. It was announced at the winter Consumer Electronics Show
Consumer Electronics Show
The International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
in January 1987 - at the same time as the high-end Amiga 2000
Amiga 2000
The Amiga 2000, or A2000, is a personal computer released by Commodore in 1986. It is the successor to the Amiga 1000.-Features:Aimed at the high-end market, the original Europe-only model adds a Zorro II backplane, implemented in programmable logic, to the custom Amiga chipset used in the Amiga 1000...
- and competed directly against the Atari 520ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
. Before Amiga 500 was shipped, Commodore suggested that the list price of the Amiga 500 was 595.95 USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
without a monitor. At delivery in 1987, Commodore announced that the Amiga 500 would carry a 699 USD list price.
The Amiga 500 represented a return to Commodore's roots by being sold in the same mass retail outlets as the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
- to which it was a spiritual successor - as opposed to the computer-store-only Amiga 1000
Amiga 1000
The A1000, or Commodore Amiga 1000, was Commodore's initial Amiga personal computer, introduced on July 23, 1985 at the Lincoln Center in New York City....
.
The original Amiga 500 proved to be Commodore’s best-selling Amiga model, enjoying particular success in Europe. Although popular with hobbyists, arguably its most widespread use was as a gaming machine, where its advanced graphics and sound for the time were of significant benefit.
Releases
In October 1989, the Amiga 500 dropped its price from 499 GBPPound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
to 399 GBP and was bundled with the Batman Pack in the United Kingdom. This price drop helped Commodore to sell more than 1 million Amiga 500s in 1989.
In late 1991, an enhanced model known as the Amiga 500+
Amiga 500+
The Commodore Amiga 500 Plus is an enhanced version of the original Amiga 500 computer. It was notable for introducing new versions of Kickstart and Workbench, and for some minor improvements in the custom chips, known as the Enhanced Chip Set .- Introduction :The A500+ was released in several...
replaced the standard Amiga 500 in some markets, it was bundled with the Cartoon Classics pack in the United Kingdom at 399 GBP.
The Amiga 500 series was discontinued in mid-1992 replaced by the similarly specified and priced Amiga 600
Amiga 600
The Amiga 600, also known as the A600 , is a home computer that was introduced at the CeBIT show in March 1992. The A600 was Commodore International's final model based on the Motorola 68000 CPU and the ECS chipset. It is essentially a redesign of the Amiga 500 Plus, with the option of an internal...
, although this new machine had originally been intended as a much cheaper budget model, which would have been the A300. In late 1992, Commodore released the “next-generation” Amiga 1200
Amiga 1200
The Amiga 1200, or A1200 , was Commodore International's third-generation Amiga computer, aimed at the home market...
, a machine closer in concept to the original Amiga 500, but featuring significant technical improvements. Despite this, neither the A1200 nor the A600 replicated the commercial success of its predecessor as, by this time, the market was definitively shifting from the home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
platforms of the past to commodity Wintel
Wintel
Wintel is a portmanteau of Windows and Intel, referring to personal computers using Intel x86 compatible processors running Microsoft Windows...
PCs
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
and the new "low-cost" Macintosh Classic
Macintosh Classic
The Macintosh Classic was a personal computer manufactured by Apple Computer. Introduced on October 15, 1990, it was the first Apple Macintosh to sell for less than US$1,000. Production of the Classic was prompted by the success of the Macintosh Plus and the SE...
, LC
Macintosh LC
The Macintosh LC was Apple Computer's product family of low-end consumer Macintosh personal computers in the early 1990s. The original Macintosh LC was released in 1990 and was the first affordable color-capable Macintosh. Due to its affordability and Apple II compatibility the LC was adopted...
and IIsi models.
Technical description
The Amiga 500 utilizes a Motorola 68000Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
microprocessor running at (NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
) or (PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
). The CPU is 32-bit internally, but uses a 16-bit data bus and 24-bit address bus, providing a maximum of 16 MB
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
of address space
Address space
In computing, an address space defines a range of discrete addresses, each of which may correspond to a network host, peripheral device, disk sector, a memory cell or other logical or physical entity.- Overview :...
. The Amiga 500 uses the same OCS
Original Amiga chipset
The Original Chip Set was a chipset used in the earliest Commodore Amiga computers and defined the Amiga's graphics and sound capabilities...
chipset as the Amiga 1000, so graphics can be displayed in multiple resolutions and color depths, even on the same screen. Resolutions vary from 320x200 (up to 32 colors) to 640x200 (up to 16 colors) for NTSC (704x484 overscan) and 320x256 to 640x256 for PAL (704x576 overscan.) The system uses planar graphics, with up to five bitplanes (four in hires) allowing 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 color screens, from a palette of 4096 colors. Two special graphics modes are also available: Extra HalfBrite, which uses a 6th bitplane as a mask to half the brightness of any color, and which allows all the 4096 colors to be used on screen at simultaneously. However only one of the red, green, blue base colours could be changed in the adjacent pixel in this mode. Later revisions of the chipset are PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
/NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
switchable in software. The sound chip produces four hardware mixed channels of 8-bit PCM at a sampling frequency of up to . The hardware channels have independent volume levels and sampling rates and are output with two channels mixed to the left and two to the right audio output. Each channel can also be designated another channel where it can modulate both volume and frequency using its own output. The stock system comes with AmigaOS
AmigaOS
AmigaOS is the default native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. It was developed first by Commodore International, and initially introduced in 1985 with the Amiga 1000...
version 1.2 or 1.3 and of Chip RAM
Chip RAM
Chip RAM is a commonly used term for the integrated RAM used in Commodore's line of Amiga computers. Chip RAM is shared between the central processing unit and the Amiga's dedicated chipset...
, one built in double-density floppy disk drive that is completely programmable and can read IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
disks, standard Amiga disks, and up to using custom formatting drivers like Klaus Deppich’s diskspare.device. The Amiga 500 houses the keyboard and floppy drive in one shell, unlike the Amiga 1000
Amiga 1000
The A1000, or Commodore Amiga 1000, was Commodore's initial Amiga personal computer, introduced on July 23, 1985 at the Lincoln Center in New York City....
.
Despite the lack of Amiga 2000-compatible internal expansion slots, there are many ports and expansion options. There are two Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
DE9M
D-subminiature
The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smaller connectors used on computer systems....
sockets for joystick
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
s or mice
Mouse (computing)
In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
, stereo audio (RCA connector
RCA connector
An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals...
s 1 V p-p). There is a floppy drive port for daisy-chaining up to 3 extra floppy disk drives via an DB23F connector. The then-standard RS-232
RS-232
In telecommunications, RS-232 is the traditional name for a series of standards for serial binary single-ended data and control signals connecting between a DTE and a DCE . It is commonly used in computer serial ports...
serial port (DB25M) and Centronics
Centronics
Centronics Data Computer Corporation was a pioneering American manufacturer of computer printers, now remembered primarily for the parallel interface that bears its name.-The beginning:Centronics began as a division of Wang Laboratories...
parallel port
Parallel port
A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port...
(DB25F) are also included. The power supply is .
The system displays video in analog RGB
RGB color model
The RGB color model is an additive color model in which red, green, and blue light is added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors...
PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
and NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
using a proprietary DB23M video connector and outputs video at (incompatible with most VGA monitors) HSync
Synchronization
Synchronization is timekeeping which requires the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. The familiar conductor of an orchestra serves to keep the orchestra in time....
for standard video modes while a Multisync monitor
Multisync monitor
A multisync monitor is a monitor that can properly synchronise with various horizontal and vertical scan frequencies. In contrast, fixed frequency monitors can only synchronise with a specific horizontal and vertical frequency, limiting their flexibility...
is required for some higher resolutions. This connection can also be genlock
Genlock
Genlock is a common technique where the video output of one source, or a specific reference signal from a signal generator, is used to synchronize other television picture sources together. The aim in video and digital audio applications is to ensure the coincidence of signals in time at a...
ed to an external video signal. The system was bundled with an RF adapter
RF modulator
An RF modulator is a device that takes a baseband input signal and outputs a radio frequency-modulated signal....
to provide output on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
s with a coaxial input, while composite video
Composite video
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
is available via an RCA connector
RCA connector
An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals...
. There is also a Zorro II
Zorro II
Zorro II is the name of the general purpose expansion bus used by the Amiga 2000 computer. The bus is mainly a buffered extension of the Motorola 68000 bus, with support for bus mastering DMA. The expansion slots use a 100-pin connector and the card form factor is the same as the IBM PC...
bus expansion on the left side (behind a plastic cover). Peripherals such as a hard drive can be added via the expansion slot and are configured automatically by the Amiga's AutoConfig
Autoconfig
Autoconfig is an auto-configuration protocol of Amiga computers which is intended to automatically assign resources to expansion devices without the need for jumper settings...
standard, so that multiple devices do not conflict with each other. Up to of “fast" RAM can be added using the side expansion slot.
The Amiga 500 has a "trapdoor" slot on the underside for an upgrade of of RAM. The extra RAM is classified as "fast" RAM, but is sometimes referred to as "slow" RAM since due to the design of the expansion bus it is actually on the chipset bus. Such upgrades usually include a battery-backed real-time clock
Real-time clock
A real-time clock is a computer clock that keeps track of the current time. Although the term often refers to the devices in personal computers, servers and embedded systems, RTCs are present in almost any electronic device which needs to keep accurate time.-Terminology:The term is used to avoid...
. All versions of the A500 can have the additional RAM configured as Chip RAM by a simple hardware modification, which involves fitting a later model (8372A) Agnus chip. Likewise, all versions of the A500 can be upgraded to Chip RAM by fitting the chip and adding additional memory.
The Amiga 500 also sports an unusual feature for a budget machine, socketed chips, which allow easy replacement of defective chips. The CPU can be directly upgraded to a 68010
Motorola 68010
The Motorola MC68010 processor is a 16/32-bit microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1982. In line with the Motorola 68000 naming convention, it is usually just referred to as the 010 ....
or to a 68020
Motorola 68020
The Motorola 68020 is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1984. It is the successor to the Motorola 68010 and is succeeded by the Motorola 68030...
, 68030
Motorola 68030
The Motorola 68030 is a 32-bit microprocessor in Motorola's 68000 family. It was released in 1987. The 68030 was the successor to the Motorola 68020, and was followed by the Motorola 68040. In keeping with general Motorola naming, this CPU is often referred to as the 030 .The 68030 features on-chip...
, or 68040
Motorola 68040
The Motorola 68040 is a microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1990. It is the successor to the 68030 and is followed by the 68060. There was no 68050. In keeping with general Motorola naming, the 68040 is often referred to as simply the '040 ....
via the side expansion slot. In fact, all the custom chips can be upgraded to the Amiga Enhanced Chip Set (ECS) versions.
The case is made from ABS
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is a common thermoplastic. Its melting point is approximately 105 °C ....
plastics which may become brown with time. This can be reversed by using the public domain chemical mix "Retr0bright
Retr0bright
Retr0bright is a public domain chemical mixture used to remove yellowing from ABS plastic computer cases that were popular in the 1980s and 1990s, such as Commodore, Apple and Amiga computers. Yellowing is caused by both bromine and exposure to UV light...
".
Whenever the computer is powered on a self diagnostic test is run that will show any failure with a specific colour where
means no chip RAM found or is damaged,
means bad kickstart
Kickstart (Amiga)
Kickstart is a commonly used term for the bootstrap firmware of the Amiga computers developed by Commodore.Most Amiga models were shipped with the Kickstart firmware stored on ROM chips...
-ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
,
means mostly a bad CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
(no trap routine) or a bad Zorro expansion card
Expansion card
The expansion card in computing is a printed circuit board that can be inserted into an expansion slot of a computer motherboard or backplane to add functionality to a computer system via the expansion bus.One edge of the expansion card holds the contacts that fit exactly into the slot...
.
means custom chip problem (Denise Paula Agnus),
means CIA
MOS Technology CIA
The 6526/8520 Complex Interface Adapter was an integrated circuit made by MOS Technology. It served as a I/O port controller for the 6502 family of microprocessors, providing for parallel and serial I/O capabilities as well as timers and a Time-of-Day clock...
problem,
means if stops at Grey that the CIA can be defective,
Black/stripes means ROM or CIA problem,
Black (no video) means really basic problem.
The keyboard LED
Light-emitting diode
A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting...
uses blink codes where
One blink means the keyboard ROM has a checksum error,
Two blinks means RAM failure,
Three blinks means watchdog timer failure.
Using caps lock
Caps lock
Caps lock is a key on many computer keyboards. Pressing it sets an input mode in which typed letters are uppercase by default. The keyboard remains in caps lock mode until the key is pressed again...
key and getting a response means CIA and the CPU works.
Technical specifications
- OCSOriginal Amiga chipsetThe Original Chip Set was a chipset used in the earliest Commodore Amiga computers and defined the Amiga's graphics and sound capabilities...
(1.2 & 1.3 models) or ECS (500+ 2.04 models) chipset. ECS revisions of the chipset made PALPALPAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
/NTSCNTSCNTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
mode switchable in software.- Graphics can be of arbitrary dimensions, resolution and colour depth, even on the same screen.
- Without using overscan, the graphics can be 320 or 640 pixels wide by 200/256 or 400/512 pixels tall.
- Planar graphics are used, with up to 5 bitplanes (4 in hires); this allowed 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 colour screens, from a palette of 4096 colours. Two special graphics modes were also included: Extra HalfBrite, which used a 6th bitplane as a mask that halved the brightness of any colour seen, and Hold And Modify (HAM), which allowed all 4096 colours on screen at once.
- Rhett Anderson developed the so called Sliced HAM or SHM mode, which was a standard 32-color mode, but used the Copper (part of the Agnus chip which could change hardware registers at given screen positions) to reprogram the color palette registers at each scanline. The advantage of SHM files was the ability to display all 4096 colors while eliminating the color blur of HAM compression.
- Sound is 4 hardware-mixed channels of 8-bit sound at up to . The hardware channels had independent volumes (65 levels) and sampling rates, and mixed down to two fully left and fully right stereo outputs. A software controllable low-pass audio filter is also included.
- 512 kBKilobyteThe kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
of Chip RAMChip RAMChip RAM is a commonly used term for the integrated RAM used in Commodore's line of Amiga computers. Chip RAM is shared between the central processing unit and the Amiga's dedicated chipset...
. - AmigaOSAmigaOSAmigaOS is the default native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. It was developed first by Commodore International, and initially introduced in 1985 with the Amiga 1000...
1.2 or 1.3 - One double-density floppy disk drive is built in, which is completely programmable and thus can read IBM PCIBM PCThe IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
disks, standard Amiga disks, and up to with custom formatting (such as Klaus Deppich’s diskspare.device). Uses and . - Built in keyboard.
- A two-button mouse is included.
Graphics
- PALPALPAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
mode: 320 × 256, 640 × 256, 640 × 512 (interlace), 704 × 576 in overscan. - NTSCNTSCNTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
mode: 320 × 200, 640 × 200, 640 × 400 (interlace), 704 × 484 in overscan.
Max 6 bpp
Color depth
In computer graphics, color depth or bit depth is the number of bits used to represent the color of a single pixel in a bitmapped image or video frame buffer. This concept is also known as bits per pixel , particularly when specified along with the number of bits used...
. The Amiga could show multiple resolution modes at the same time, splitting the screen vertically. An additional mode called Hold-And-Modify
Hold-and-Modify
Hold-And-Modify, usually abbreviated as HAM, is a display mode of the Commodore Amiga computer. It uses a highly unusual technique to express the color of pixels, allowing many more colors to appear on screen than would otherwise be possible....
(HAM) makes it possible to utilize over a wide span. This works by letting each pixel position use the previous RGB value and modify one of the red, green or blue values to a new 4-bit value. This will cause some negligible colour artifacts however.
Connectors
- Two DB9M sockets for joystickJoystickA joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
s or miceMouse (computing)In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
(as popularized by the Atari 2600Atari 2600The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
). - Stereo audio (RCA connectorRCA connectorAn RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals...
s 1 V p-p). - A floppy drive port (DB23F), for daisy-chaining up to 3 extra floppy disk drives via an DB23FD-subminiatureThe D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smaller connectors used on computer systems....
connector. - A standard RS-232RS-232In telecommunications, RS-232 is the traditional name for a series of standards for serial binary single-ended data and control signals connecting between a DTE and a DCE . It is commonly used in computer serial ports...
serial port (DB25M). - A parallel portParallel portA parallel port is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port...
(DB25F). - Power inlet .
- Analogue RGB 50 HzHertzThe hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
PALPALPAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
and NTSCNTSCNTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
video output, provided on an Amiga-specific DB23M video connectorAmiga video connectorThe Amiga video connector is used on all Commodore Amiga computers. The DB23 has signals for genlocking, RGB analog video , and a digital Red-Green-Blue-Intensity signal ....
. Can drive video with HSyncSynchronizationSynchronization is timekeeping which requires the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. The familiar conductor of an orchestra serves to keep the orchestra in time....
for standard Amiga video modes. This is not compatible with most VGAVideo Graphics ArrayVideo Graphics Array refers specifically to the display hardware first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, but through its widespread adoption has also come to mean either an analog computer display standard, the 15-pin D-subminiature VGA connector or the 640×480 resolution...
monitors. A Multisync monitorMultisync monitorA multisync monitor is a monitor that can properly synchronise with various horizontal and vertical scan frequencies. In contrast, fixed frequency monitors can only synchronise with a specific horizontal and vertical frequency, limiting their flexibility...
is required for some higher resolutions. This connection can also be genlockGenlockGenlock is a common technique where the video output of one source, or a specific reference signal from a signal generator, is used to synchronize other television picture sources together. The aim in video and digital audio applications is to ensure the coincidence of signals in time at a...
ed to an external video signal. An RF adapterRF modulatorAn RF modulator is a device that takes a baseband input signal and outputs a radio frequency-modulated signal....
(A520) was frequently bundled with the machine to provide output on regular televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
s or on compositeComposite videoComposite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
monitors. A digital 16 colour Red-Green-Blue-Intensity signal is available too on the same connector. - Monochrome video via an RCA connectorRCA connectorAn RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals...
. - Zorro IIZorro IIZorro II is the name of the general purpose expansion bus used by the Amiga 2000 computer. The bus is mainly a buffered extension of the Motorola 68000 bus, with support for bus mastering DMA. The expansion slots use a 100-pin connector and the card form factor is the same as the IBM PC...
bus expansion on the left side behind a plastic cover. - Trapdoor slot under the machine, for RAM expansion and real-time clockReal-time clockA real-time clock is a computer clock that keeps track of the current time. Although the term often refers to the devices in personal computers, servers and embedded systems, RTCs are present in almost any electronic device which needs to keep accurate time.-Terminology:The term is used to avoid...
.
Expansions
- Expansion ports are limited to a side expansion port and a trapdoor expansion on the underside of the machine. The casing can also be opened up (voiding the warranty), all chips are socketed rather than through-holeThrough-hole technologyThrough-hole technology, also spelled "thru-hole", refers to the mounting scheme used for electronic components that involves the use of leads on the components that are inserted into holes drilled in printed circuit boards and soldered to pads on the opposite side either by manual assembly by...
soldered, so they can be replaced by hand. - The CPU can be upgraded to a 68010 directly or to a 68020, 68030 or 68040Motorola 68040The Motorola 68040 is a microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1990. It is the successor to the 68030 and is followed by the 68060. There was no 68050. In keeping with general Motorola naming, the 68040 is often referred to as simply the '040 ....
via the side expansion slot. - The Chip RAM can be upgraded to 1 MBMegabyteThe megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
directly on the motherboard, provided a Fat Agnus chip is also installed to support it. - Likewise, all the custom chips can be upgraded to the ECS chipset.
- 512 kB of “Slow RAM” or “Trapdoor RAM” can be added via the trapdoor expansion. Such upgrades usually also included a battery-backed clock. The memory were however only accessable by the processor but still slow as the chip RAM.
- Up to 8 MB of “Fast RAM” can be added via the side expansion slot.
- Hard drive and other peripherals can be added via the side expansion slot.
- Several companies provided combined CPU, memory and hard drive upgrades - or provided chainable expansions, as there is only one side expansion slot.
- Expansions are configured automatically by AutoConfigAutoconfigAutoconfig is an auto-configuration protocol of Amiga computers which is intended to automatically assign resources to expansion devices without the need for jumper settings...
software, so multiple pieces of hardware did not conflict with each other.
Memory map
| Address | Size [kByte] | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 0000 | 256.0 | Chip RAM |
| 0x0004 0000 | 256.0 | Chip RAM (A1000 Amiga 1000 The A1000, or Commodore Amiga 1000, was Commodore's initial Amiga personal computer, introduced on July 23, 1985 at the Lincoln Center in New York City.... option card) |
| 0x0008 0000 | 512.0 | Chip RAM expansion |
| 0x0010 0000 | 1024.0 | Extended Chip RAM for ECS/AGA. |
| 0x0020 0000 | 8192.0 | Primary auto-config space (Fast RAM) |
| 0x00A0 0000 | 1984.0 | Reserved |
| 0x00BF D000 | 3.8 | 8520-B MOS Technology CIA The 6526/8520 Complex Interface Adapter was an integrated circuit made by MOS Technology. It served as a I/O port controller for the 6502 family of microprocessors, providing for parallel and serial I/O capabilities as well as timers and a Time-of-Day clock... (even-byte addresses) |
| 0x00BF E001 | 3.8 | 8520-A (odd-byte addresses) |
| 0x00C0 0000 | 1536.0 | Internal expansion memory (pseudo-fast, Slow RAM on Amiga 500) |
| 0x00D8 0000 | 256.0 | Reserved |
| 0x00DC 0000 | 64.0 | Real time clock Real-time clock A real-time clock is a computer clock that keeps track of the current time. Although the term often refers to the devices in personal computers, servers and embedded systems, RTCs are present in almost any electronic device which needs to keep accurate time.-Terminology:The term is used to avoid... |
| 0x00DD 0000 | 188.0 | Reserved |
| 0x00DF F000 | 4.0 | Custom chip registers |
| 0x00E0 0000 | 512.0 | Reserved |
| 0x00E8 0000 | 64.0 | Zorro II auto-config space (before relocation) |
| 0x00E9 0000 | 448.0 | Secondary auto-config space (usually 64K I/O boards) |
| 0x00F0 0000 | 512.0 | 512K System ROM (reserved for extended ROM image e.g. CDTV or CD³²) |
| 0x00F8 0000 | 256.0 | 256K System ROM (Kickstart Kickstart (Amiga) Kickstart is a commonly used term for the bootstrap firmware of the Amiga computers developed by Commodore.Most Amiga models were shipped with the Kickstart firmware stored on ROM chips... 2.04 or higher) |
| 0x00FC 0000 | 256.0 | 256K System ROM |
Notable uses
- Digital hardcoreDigital hardcoreDigital hardcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk incorporating influences from electronic music. Digital hardcore fuses elements of hardcore punk with various forms of electronic music...
group EC8OREC8OREC8OR is a German digital hardcore band founded in 1995 by Patric Catani and Gina V. D'Orio and signed by Alec Empire's Digital Hardcore Recordings record label...
recorded their premier title album using only an Amiga 500 and a microphoneMicrophoneA microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
. - Skam group Team DoyobiTeam DoyobiTeam Doyobi are an electronic music duo, Christopher Gladwin and Alexander Peverett , currently signed to the Skam Records label. They began their collaboration by producing electronic soundtracks for self-made video art in the early 1990s...
recorded their premier album Cryptoburners using only an Amiga 500 and no microphone. - The Amiga 500 was used as a prize on Bully's Prize Board in at least 1 episode of the game show BullseyeBullseyeBullseye may refer to:*The geometric shape ◉, phonetic symbol for bilabial click*Bullseye , a shooting sport, in which participants shoot handguns at paper targets at fixed distances and time limits...
. - Aggrotech artist X-fusionX-FusionX-Fusion is the name of a solo electronic music project by German Musician, Producer & DJ, Jan L. He began releasing acid house tracks in 1988, and by 2000, the project had become an aggrotech project. To this date, X-Fusion has released 14 albums....
also recorded music from 1989-1992 using an Amiga 500(and occasionally Kawai K4 and/or Roland JD-800)http://soundcloud.com/x-fusion/sets/early-recordings-techno-1989#